Windows Server 2008 RC0, Vista SP1: Back together again

Summary:Microsoft announced on September 24 that it is ready to release to testers both Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate (RC) 0 and Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 beta. Vista SP1 is going out to 12,000 pre-selected testers. Windows Server 2008 RC0 is going to be broadly available for download within the next 24 hours.

Microsoft said on Monday that it is releasing the beta of SP1 to approximately 12,000 preselected testers. Testers are under non-disclosure about the beta build and are not supposed to discuss it publicly, according to Microsoft. (I guess 11,999 testers are under NDA. One doesn't seem to be.)

The final version of SP1 is slated to ship in the first quarter of 2008.

Microsoft officials said they will release to testers RC0 "within the next 24 hours." Microsoft also is releasing simultaneously the Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7) Media Pack Community Technology Preview. This CTP will feature Windows Media Services 2008, which Microsoft says will provide two times scalabilty over Windows Media Services 9.0. The new media pack also can be installed as part of Windows Server Core.

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). She also is the cohost of the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT network.
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Disclosure

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.